Regis Jesuit had a simple MO heading into the season. If the Raiders swung the bats successfully, they probably were among the serious competitors.
Oh, they had their ups and downs throughout the regular season, losing some close ones and not really generating much offense.
However, they scored a combined 22 runs on Wednesday to seal a berth in this weekend’s Class 5A Championship Series in a two-game sweep of districts at a uniquely located Denver East field.
With City Park across the street, the Angels’ distinctive clock tower overhead and a shot of downtown Denver in the distance along with rush-hour traffic, Regis Jesuit first beat Grand Junction 11-1, then advanced to double-elimination rounds with a hard-fought 11-6 decision of Prairie View.
The Raiders will take an 11-10 record into the weekend as well as the following attitude — if they hit, they can contend.
“We’re swinging the bats way better than we have all year and I’ve said all along that if we just get a little hitting, we’re a team to contend with,” Raiders coach Matt Darr said. “I’ll take our chances with our arms.”
Regis Jesuit has gotten sound pitching throughout 2015. Its depth was tested in the second game. when junior right-hander Bo Weiss, son of Rockies manager Walt, set down the first six Thunderhawks. However, he was touched for three runs in each of the next two innings and eventually gave way to Travis Marr, who threw the final three inings and sealed it.
More important, the Raiders employed their bats. They pounded out 15 hits. On the day, junior outfielder Quin Cotton was 7-of-8, including 3-for-4 with two runs scored, two doubles and two RBIs in the final. He also nearly made a great diving catch in the left-center field gap.
“Not a bad day,” Darr said. “He’s a player.”
Said Cotton: “We got our bats going and we had both pitching and hitting going today. We’re feeling good going into the (double-elimination series).”
The Raiders’ seven, eight and nine hitters, Matt Schmidt, Ryan Vottiero and Thomas Jahde, carried the load — they were a combined 7-of-11 with six runs scored and five RBIs.
“But I keep going back to the pitching,” Darr said of being in a short series. “When you have more arms, you have an advantage.”
Prairie View, which ended 11-10, showed much better than a No. 30 seed and certainly gave the Raiders all they wanted. They left the bases loaded twice and stranded 10 runners.
“They kept coming back and it was impressive,” Darr said.
The Thunderhawks, who opened the day by downing host Denver East 9-1, got four RBIs by senior Joseph Lubick, but it wasn’t enough against Regis.
Prairie View coach Tim Cardenas has patiently been building a program that is starting to gain some attention.
“We’re not afraid to play anybody, any where and any time,” he said.
Prairie View 003 300 0 — 6 7 2
Regis Jesuit 035 210 0 — 11 15 2
Prairie View — Valentine p 4-1-1-1, Carbajal rf 0-0-0-0, Massey rf-cf 4-1-0-0, Lubick lf 4-0-2-4, Hogan cf-p 3-0-0-0, Davis c 3-0-1-0, Ringler cr 0-0-0-0, Bolin 3b 3-0-0-0, Ledezma 2b 2-1-0-0, Ramirez 1b-p 3-2-2-0, Torres dh 2-1-1-0, B. Sanchez ph 1-0-0-0, Call ss 0-0-0-0, T. Sanchez 1b 0-0-0-0. Totals 29-6-7-5.
Regis Jesuit — Cotton cf 4-2-3-2, Chouinard 3b 4-0-2-2, Holinger 2b 3-0-1-0, Marr dh-p 3-0-1-0, Doerr c 4-0-1-0, Landes cr 0-1-0-0, Cameron ss 1-2-0-0, Schmidt 1b 4-1-2-1, Vottiero lf 3-3-2-1, Jahde rf 4-2-3-3, Weiss p 0-0-0-0. Totals 30-11-15-9.
E — Call, Lubick, Cameron Chouinard. DP — Prairie View. LOB — Prairie View 10, Regis Jesuit 9. SB — Chouinard, Cameron. SAC — Holinger, Cameron, Torres. 2B — Cotton 2, Valentine, Vottiero. 3B — Schmidt.
Batteries — Valentine, Hogan (3), Ramirez (5) and Davis; Weiss, Marr (5) and Doerr. W — Weiss. L — Valentine SF — Chouinard, Valentine. HBP — Ramirez (by Weiss); Davis (by Weiss). WP — Valentine, Hogan.
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or
